Material handling device



Nov. 2, 1948. T. w. KERR- MA'IERIAL HANDLING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed June 8,1945

INVENTOR. BY 7 W14 W /(W ATTORNEY.

Nov. 2, 1948.

T. W. KERR MATERIAL HANDLING DEVICE Filed June a, 1945 2 SheetsSheet 2INVENTOR. BY 7M? %//m W ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 2, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MATERIAL HANDLINGDEVICE Theodore W. Kerr, West Hollywood, Calif., as-

signor to E. E. Kotkin, doing business as Plastics Process Company, LosAngeles, Calif.

Application June 8, 1945, Serial No. 598,229

11 Claims.

This invention relates to material handling devices and pertainsparticularly to a device adapted to sever successive equal length piecesfrom a longitudinally movable strip of material where the production ofa plurality of separate pieces of material of substantially equal lengthis desired.

One of the particular objects of the invention is to provide aconstruction which will function to sever equal length pieces from astrip of material which is fed longitudinally into the apparatus, inwhich a severing means is automatically actuated by the strip ofmaterial itself in the successive repetition of the severing operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of characterdescribed in which the strip of longitudinally moving material isbrought into engagement with a stop member to establish a given lengthof material to be severed from the end of said strip, and which isadapted to automatically sever the given lengths of material from theend of the strip, eject the severed end, and return the severing meansinto position to repeat the severing operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a severing means adaptedto produce a plurality of equal length pieces of material from anelongated strip of such material, which is capable of accuraterepetition of the severing action in the producton of such plural t ofpieces, in a substant ally automatic operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter described. which is adapted to operate upon a continuouslymoving strip of material, in which the severing means is adapted tocause interruption of the travel of such material at the position atwhich severing takes place under conditions such that the continuouslymoving strip is caused to build up or store a moving force such as tocause the strip of material at the position of severing to move quicklypast the severing means into a new position immediately upon removal ofthe severing means from engagement with the strip and to thereby causeejection of the severed portion.

The device of the present invention may comprise, essentially, asupporting member adapted to receive and guide a strip of materialadapted for longitudinal movement, together with stop means positionedto engage a free end of said strip and thereby locate the free end toestablish a given length of material to be severed. A severing mechanismis provided in position to move transversely through the strip ofmaterial at the 2 point at which severing is desired, together withstop-disengaging means to cause disengagement of the free end of saidstrip from the stop means as the severing means is again moved out ofengagement with the strip upon the completion of a severing operation.The preferred embodiment of the invention relies upon the stop means toinitiate and conclude the operation of the severing means, and asuitable control mechanism is provided to cause operation of thestop-disengaging means in timed relation to the movement of the severingmeans whereby the severed end is disengaged from the device and pushedout of the severing zone of the mechanism by the longitudinal movementof the strip of material upon which further severing operations are tobe conducted.

Other obects and features of the invention will be brought out in theensuing description of certain embodiments thereof, or will be apparentfrom such description. The accompanying. drawings illustrate twoembodiments of the invention and referring thereto:

Fig. 1 is a partly sectional elevational view of the devise showing asevering means in position to engage a strip of material;

Fig. 2 is a partly broken away elevational view' matic operat ng meanswhich will cause the operation of the severing means;

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary view corresponding to the upper portion of Fig.1 showing a modified form of the invention,

Fig. 8 is a view corresponding generally to Fig. 3, illustrating amodification in the operatin means for the device.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 6 of the drawings, th

device may comprise an elongated material support 1 adapted to carry anelongated strip of material 2 on which the severing operation is to beperformed. This strip of material may be of such character as to besubject to formation by an extrusion device, as shown diagrammaticallyin Fig. 3, where the continuous production of sep-' arate equal lengthpieces of material from a con of such material is desired. .cly, the s1p 2 may be an individual strip wiiifih is manually fed into thesevering device for the production of such equal length strips. For theproduction of separate pieces from a continuously moving strip ofmaterial I may provide an arrangement of apparatus as shown in Fig. 4:in which the continucusiy" moving 'sjrip" off'rhaterial 2 is supportedunsuitable rollers or the-like d and is conducted over an arcuatesupport portion 5 which will cause the material to assume a curved paththroughout a portion of its'lengthv before reaching the position of thesevering means 6. The length and arcuate formation'ofi'thepore tion 5will be governed. by the'characteristicstof the material of which thestrip 2 is forin'edi Beyond the severing means 6 I prov-idearstop membergenerally indicated at l to interrupt the iongitudinal movement of thestrip 2 when agiven length of material has been located beyond theseveringmeans.

In Figs: 1-3 1 have shown aform: of: severing means'which may beemployed accord-ing to -this invention; comprising a' circular saw orcutting disc Ml mountedon suitable bearings 92: and=carriecl: by: asupporting yoke it; The supportingyokeit} is suitably. mounted sc= as toproduce atr'anslatbrymotion of thesa-w or disc H with: respect to thematerial support member. l: and the elongated-strip-ofmateriailz carriedthereby; suchas amivotalmountingt at-a posit-ion: removedifrom theax-isof' rotation of thediscv l l--, and this pivotalm'ountin'gv maybeprovided through a: driving motor- M having a shaft I 5 1 couple-dthrough couplinga lfi to a -shait member lea: carried'in bearings ll. A:drive" belt l8= is utilized to connect the shaft l5a to the shaft ofth'edisc It andrthe yoke le is'journalled: for free rotatiomon theshaftlfiarthroughta journal assembly IS.

The yoke 13 is carried to" a position below the pivotal mounting: on theshaft I 5w to: form an actu'atin'g'arm Zl towhich a-pistonrod Z-zmay bepivotally connected A: piston 22'ais mounted on the: piston rodi 22: andis provided: with: a piston leather 22b; The piston: 22a' is. s1id'ab1y"mounted? within a cylinder provided with acylinder'head 23a: connectedto a: controli valve: assembly Z4 under control of a solenoidzfii Thes'top memb'er 1 may comprise-a microswitch Ztprovided with an operatingbutton 26a adapted'td-baenga'ged by theiree end 2 oftheelongatedstripofmaterialto be operated upon; The switchizfiis adapted to close the electricalcircuitZ-l through'a battery 21a to thesolenoid 25 ,.causing the solenoid tobe energized when the strip ofmaterial 2' con tacts the operating button 26a.

Means/are provided for dislocati-ng the-freeerrd of a-severedpieceof.material.with respect to the stcp member l, to permitarepetition ofthe sev-- ering operation and as anexample; such means maycomprise an ejector. member 28 slidably mounted with respect to thesupport I- andpref-- erably positioned in a suitable-slot In therein foradjustment toward. and away. from the severing means as'the stop-member2i isv adjusted toward and away from such severing. means toestablishdifferent. lengths of cutoff material. The-ejector member 28adapted for vertical movement under the influence of" a lift lever 29.pivotally mounted ona support. bracket as at Ellandmovable throughitheagency ot aslide-32 mounted in suitable bearings 33'. and provided. witha slot 35 adaptiedlto be engaged by an actuator arm. portion 35 on theouter end of an actuating arm 35 s cured: to the yoke i3. A. camshoulder 31. is

provided on the slide 32 in position to engage a cam follower 33 on thelift lever 29. The length of the slot 34 will be so selected withrespect to the axiount of movement required to carry the severing meansfrom the full line to the dot-dash line position indicated in Fig. 1, insuch manner that the actuator arm end portion 35 will engage the endo'fthesiot'fifi in the slide" 3fi' a'sthezmovement-cf the severingmeans-toward-the dot-dash position is substantially completed, afterwhich the slide 32 will be moved to the right (Fig. 3) and the liftlever 25; rotated counter-clockwise to lift the ejector member 28. Uponupward movement of the ejector member 23 by the lift lever 2-9 asabovedescribed, the free end '2 of the then severed portion of the elongatedstrip 2 will be raised to the dot-dash position shown at 2a in Fig. 2.When the end 2 is disengaged from the button. 268141 the circuit to thesolenoid 25 will be opened, which causes a return of the severing meansorcutting discii to the full line position Fig. 1. As the ting disc'isbeing returned to the full-line position: the actuator arm 36 willtravel-freely in the slotiid-until the end 3'5reaches ting disc is clearofthe strip 2 the main portion of the strip 2 willv be released, and itsforward movement past the position of the severing meansthenengage andmove the severed-end piece to theleftin Fig. 2, overthe topof thestop'member 2% into a suitable collecting hoppeniorexample, the newlyformed end of the strip 2 being guided i. mg the support 5 until contactis made at 26a and the operation-isrepeated.

During the time that the cutting disc H ismaking its. severing cut;onthe material 2, thecontinuous feeding. of the strip: 2. as shown in-Fig. 4, or further movement applied manually,

will result in the-section. 2?) thereof which is located. over thearcuate support section 5 to be deformed'away from th'esupport 5 intosome such position asshown in dot-dash lines at 227. This is a: result.of the stoppage of the longitudinal movement of the strip Z'by thesevering means I i and as the cutting disc: II is withdrawn from asevering engagement, the portion 2?) will tend to straighten out-intocontact with the support 5, pushing th'esevered ends 2c-over the stopmember 25 as above described It will. be appreciated that a continuousmovementof. the strip 2 as'shown in Fig. 4 will not be essential to the:operation of the-device inasmuch as individual pieces of material may behand fed into the severing mechanism, coming to rest against the stop 25andprovidin for the full operation of the device under. the manualpressure of the operator which tends to feed the striplto the left inFig. 4' at all times. The manual dexterity of theoperator may be of avery low order inasmuch as the severing operatf on will notbereinitiateduntil the strip has again come in contact with the stop member 26. whichdefinitely fixes the longitudinal dimension of the operated to disengagethe free end of the strip.

from the stop means. As the cutting disc is moved toward the full lineposition of Fig. 1 it is necessary for the operator to maintain alongitudinal pressure upon the strip 2 so that as soon as the cuttingdisc is removed from engagementv with the strip the portion of the stripunder the manual control of the operator will push the severed end 20out of position, allowing a new portion of the strip 2 to come intoplace.

It will be appreciated that the disengagement of the free end of asevered piece of material 20 from the stop member i is a relativeproposition,

i. e., the strip of material may be bodily moved out of engagement withthe stop member, as specifically'described above, or the stop member Imay with full equivalence be moved out of engagement with the severedstrip. Such a modification is illustrated in Fig. 8, and may comprise as1ide'32, correspondin in function to the slide 32, mounted in suitablebearings 33 and provided with a slot 34' adapted to be engaged by anactuator arm 35 operatively linked to the yoke IS. A cam shoulder 3'! isprovided on the slide 32 in position to engagea cam follower portion 38'on a lift-lever pivotally mounted as at 52 on a fixed portion of thesupporting structure and carrying a stop member 1' (such stop membercomprising an operating button correspondin to that shown at 26a, on amicro-switch or the like). The end portion 5la of the lift lever 5|which carries the stop member 1 is extended through an opening 53 in thesupport member or table 54 upon which the strip to be severed is carried(corresponding to the member I), and a spring bias member 55 ispreferably provided to cause the lever 51 to move to the dot-dashposition upon lateral movement of the slide 32' to the dot-dashposition, which retracts the stop member I from the opening 53, out ofengagement with the strip (not shown).

The showing in Fig. 8 is adaptable to installation at the far side ofthe position of severing, after the manner of the clamping arrangementshown in Fig. '7, in which case the actuator arm 35' will be carried tosuch far side, as was illustrated in connection with the actuatingextension Ail-50 for the cam 48. If the structure is more preferably tobe located at the near side of the positioning of severing, the liftlever 29 may be provided with a vertical extension at its outer end,which may carry a stop member as shown at 1 in Fig. 8, as will beapparent to a skilled mechanic.

The valve mechanism 24 under control of the solenoid 25 may comprise avalve housing 4| provided with a slidably disposed piston valve 42having a valve stem 42a connected to the solenoid 25. A port 43 isprovided connecting to a suitable reduced pressure source, whichcommunicates with the cyl nder port 44 in the upper position of thevalve 42 (the position obtaining when the solenoid 25 is energized),placing the interior of cylinder 23 in communication with the source ofreduced pressure. This causes the piston 22a to move to the left in Fig.6 under influence of atmospheric pressure on the right-hand side ofpiston 22a, which in turn causes the cutting disc II to move to'theright in Fig. 1. Upon release of the current which holds the solenoid 25in upper position,

theivalve 42 will drop; sealing ofi the port 43 6 and opening thecylinder port 44 into communication with the atmosphere through port 65.This allows atmospheric air to enter the cylinder 23 and the cuttingdisc assembly is moved to the left in Fig. 1 under the influence of aspring return member 39.

In Fig. '7 I have illustrated the construction as provided with anauxiliary clamping mechanism adapted to engage the elongated materialstrip 2 and rigidly hold it clamped against the support member I toprevent longitudinal movement of the material during the operation ofthe severing means. Referring specifically to Fig. '7, this clampconstruction may comprise a spring-faced clamp member 46 pivotallymounted to the support structure as at Ma and located at the near sideof the position of the cutting disc H at which the severing is to takeplace, i. e., awayfrom the free end 20 referred to above. The clampmember may be provided with an actuating roller M at the opposite sideof the pivotal mounting eta which is adapted to beoperated by anactuating cam 48 pivotally mounted on the frame member as at 48a androtatable in consonance with the movement of the yoke [3 through anactuatingrod 49 secured at one end to the yoke 53, A turnbuckle or thelike may be provided as at 53 to adjust the length of the actuating rod43' so that the clamping device is adaptable to engagement with materialstrips 2 of different vertical thicknesses.

It will be appreciated that various modifications in the device of thiinvention may be made by one sk lled in the art without departing fromthe spirit of this invention. For example, while I have shown apneumatic type of actuating means to cause the motion of thecutting-disc to sever the material, any other type of motive power maybe supplied to the invention accordng to the requirements of anyparticular installation. Similarly, while I have shown the severingmeans as comprising a rotatable cutting disc ii, the equivalence of ablade type of sever'ng means will occur to those skilled in the art. Forthe above and other obvious reasons I do not choose to be limited to thespecific details of the forms of invention herein shown and described,but rather to the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A material handling device adapted to sever equal length pieces froma longitudinally movable strip of material, which comprises: a supportmember adapted to receive and guide a strip of material for longitudinalmovement; stop means positioned to engage a free end of a strip locatedon said support member and interrupt the longitudinal movement thereof;severing means located in spaced relation to said stop means. saidsevering means being adapted for transverse movement with respect tosaid strip from between one position entirely out of engagement withsaid strip into severing engagement with strip and thence into a secondposition severing said strip; actuating means for effecting saidtransverse movement of said severing means bctween said positions inboth directions; stop disengaging means adapted to eiiect relativemovement between said stop means and such free end to efiectdisengagement therebetween;

and control means associated with said severing member including anarcuate supporting portion amazes t adapted to cause said strip toassume'a curved path throughout a portion of its length, and saidsevering means being disposed between the position of said free end andthe position of said curved path portion of said strip.

3. A material handling device adapted to :sever successive equal lengthpieces from a longitudinally movable strip "of material, whichcomprises: a support member adapted to receive and :guide a strip ofmaterial for longitudinal movement; stop means positioned to engage afree end of a strip located on said support member :and interr-upt thelongitudinal "movement thereof; severing means located in spacedrelation to said stop means, "said severing means being adapted fortransverse movement with respect to said strip of material from betweenone position entirely out of engagement with said strip into severingengagement with said strip and thence into another position severingsaid strip; actuating means :for efiecting said transverse movement ofsaid severing means between said positions in both directions; ejectormeans positioned adjacent said stop means and adapted to engage saidstrip adjacent said free end thereof and move said free end out ofengagement with said stop means; and control means associated with saidsevering means for actuating said ejector means in timed relation to themovement of said severing means whereby said free end of said strip ismoved out of engagement with said stop means assaid severing means ismoved towardsaid other position.

4. A material handling device as set :forth in claim-2, said severingmeans being adapted toengage said-strip and retain thesam-e againstlongitudinal movement toward said free end, and said ejector means beingadapted to retain said nee end of said strip out of engagement with saidstop means while said severing means is moved out of engagement withsaid strip aft-er com-pletion of a severingeperation.

5. A material handling device adapted to sever successive equal length:pieces from a longitudinally movable strip of material, whichcomprises: a support member adapted to receive and guide a strip ofmaterial for longitudinal movement a generally horizontal plane; stopmeans positioned to engage a free end of a strip located on said supportmember and interrupt the longitudinal movement thereof; severing meanslocated in spaced relation to said stop means, said severing means beingadapted for transverse movement with respect to said strip of materialfrom between one position entirely out of engagement with said stripinto severing engagement with said strip and thence into anotherposition severing stri actuating means for effectingsaid transversemovement of said severing means between said positions; ejector .meanspositioned adjacent said stop means and adapted to engage said stripadjacent said \free end thereof and move said free end upwardly out ofengagement with said stop means; and control means associated with saidsevering means for actuating'said ejector means in timed relation to themovement of said severin means whereby said free end of said strip isvmoved out of engagement with said stop means as said severing means ismoved toward said other position from said one position.

6. A material handling device adapted to sever successive equal lengthpieces :from a strip of material, which comprises: a support memberadapted to receive and guide a strip of longitudinally movable materialvfor longitudinal movement and including an arcuate supporting portionadaptedtocause .said strip to assume a curved path throughout a portionof its length; stop means positioned to engage a free end of a striplocated on said support member and interrupt the movement thereofat saidfree end; severing means disposed between said free end and said curvedpath portion of said strip, said severing means being movabletransversely With respect to the length of said strip between oneposition entirely strip of material, which comprises: "a support memberadapted to receive and guide .a strip of material for longitudinalmovement; stop means positioned to engage a free end of a strip locatedon said support member and interrupt the longitudinal movement thereof;severing means located in spaced relation to said stop means, saidsevering means being adapted for transverse movement with respect tosaid strip from 'between one position out of engagement with said stripinto severing en agement with said strip and thence into anotherposition severing said vstrip; ejector means located adjacent said stopmeans and movable into a position engaging said strip adjacent said freeend thereof to move said free end transversely out of "engagement bysaid stop means; operating means for effecting transverse movement ofsaid severing means between said two positions in both directions;control means associated with said severing means and adapted to causesaid 'ejector'mea'n's to move said free end out of such engagement assaid severing -L-means approaches said other position and to maintainsaid free end out 'o'f'such engagement during the completion of themovement of the severing means to said other position and until thesevering means is returned toward said one position and has moved out ofengagement with said strip after completing 'a severing operation.

8. A material handling device adapted'to sever successive equal lengthpieces from -a longitudinally movablestrip of materiaLwh c'h com rises:

a support member adapted to receive and guide a strip of material :forlongitudinal movement: stop means'positioned to engage a free end of astrip located on said support member and inter-- rupt the longitudinalmovement thereof; sever ing means located in spaced relation to saidstop means, said severing means being adapted vfor transverse movementwith respect to said strip of material from between one positionentirely out of engagement with said strip into severing engagement withsaid strip and thence into 'another position severingsaid strip;'actuatingimeans for effecting said transverse movement of severingmeans between said positions in both directions; ejector meanspositioned adjacentsaid stop means and adapted to engage said stripadjacent said free end thereof and move said free end out of engagementwith said-stop means; cam means associated with said severing means andwith said ejector means, said cam Emeans being movable to a firstposition such as to cause 9 said ejector means to engage said strip inresponse to the movement of said severing means as said severing meansmoves into said other position, and adapted to persist in said firstposi tion during completion of the movement of said severing means intosaid other position and during movement of said severing means out ofsaid other position toward said one position, and being further movableout of said first position to a second position such as to cause saidejector means to move away from engagement with said strip in responseto the movement of said severing means as said severing means moves outof engagement with said strip and moves into said one position.

9. A material handling device adapted to sever successive equal lengthpieces from a longitudinally movable strip of material, which comprises:a support member adapted to receive and guide a strip of material forlongitudinal movement; stop means positioned to engage a free end of astrip located on said support member and interrupt the longitudinalmovement thereof; severing means located in spaced relation to said stopmeans, said severing means being adapted for transverse movement withrespect to said strip of material from between one position entirely outof engagement with said strip into severing engagement with said stripand thence into another position severing said strip; actuating meansfor effecting said transverse movement of said severing means betweensaid positions in both directions; control means associated with saidstop means and adapted to cause operation of said actuating means tomove said severing means from said one position towards said otherposition during engagement of said stop means by said free end of saidstrip; and to cause operation of said actuating means to move saidsereving means from said second position to said one position duringdisengagement of said stop means by said free end ejector meanscontrolled by the movement of said severing means and positionedadjacent said stop means, said ejector means being adapted to causedisengagement of said free end from said stop means as said severingmeans is moved into said other position, whereby said severing means ismoved from said second position toward said one position by saidactuating means.

10. A construction as set forth in claim 9, said ejector means beingadapted to move away from engagement with said strip in response to the10 movement of said severing means as said severing means is moved outof engagement with said strip and into said one position.

11. A material handling device adapted to sever successive equal lengthpieces from a longitudinally movable strip of material, which comprises:a support member adapted to receive and guide a strip of material forlongitudinal movement; stop means positioned to engage a free end of astrip located on said support member and interrupt the longitudinalmovement thereof; severing means located in spaced relation to said stopmeans, said severing means being adapted for transversemovement withrespect to said strip of materia1 from between one position entirely outof engagement with said strip into severing engagement with said stripand thence into another position severing said strip; actuating meansfor effecting said transverse movement of said severing means betweensaid positions in both directions; ejector means positioned adjacentsaid stop means and adapted to engage said strip adjacent said free endthereof and move said free end out of engagement with said stop means;clamp means positioned to engage said strip adjacent the position ofengagement thereof by said severing means, said clamp means beingassociated with said severing means and being movable into engagingposition upon movement of said severing means out of said one positionin a severing operation, and movable out of engaging position uponmovement of said severing means into said one position followingcompletion of a severing operation; and control means associated withsaid severing means for actuating said ejector means in timed relationto the movement of said severing means whereby said free end of saidstrip is moved out of engagement with said stop means as said severingmeans is moved toward said other position.

THEODORE W. KERR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,567,289 Munroe Dec. 29, 19251,583,186 Schumacher May 4, 1926 1,986,791 Butts Jan. 8, 1935 2,181,398Firestone Nov. 28, 1939 Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,452,856.November 2, 1948.

THEODORE W. KERR It is hereby certified that errors appear in theprinted specification of the above numbered patent requiring correctionas follows:

Column 2, line 25, for the Word devise read device; column 7, line 35,claim 4, for the claim reference numeral 2 read 3 column 9, line 40,claim 9, for sereving read severing;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these correctionstherein that Q the same may conform to the record of the case in thePatent Oflice.

Signed and sealed this 15th day of March, A. D. 1949.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Commissioner of Patents.

